Inside: Dairy Market
Beef slaughter in 2017 in the name of the 'sausage cow'
Never before have so many cattle been slaughtered as in the past year. The year 2017 is characterized by varying slaughter figures, driven by the phosphate reduction plan (LU scheme) and the high milk price.
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In the first 51 weeks of 2017, 689.171 cattle were slaughtered in the Netherlands. This is more than 96.000 slaughters more than in 2016 (+16,25%). There is a lot of sex, especially in March; so much that the slaughterhouses were packed. In the last week of March (week 13), a record was even set with 19.331 cattle slaughtered. This is a result of the first round of the phosphate reduction plan.
Later in the year (in July) the slaughter figure dropped considerably to less than 10.000 slaughters per week. The rising milk price, in combination with the good progress of the phosphate reduction plan, made dairy farmers reluctant to take cows to the slaughterhouse.
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Especially in the first part of 2017, more was slaughtered than the year before.
Slaughter sufficient for GVE scheme
In the run-up to the holidays, there is again a lot of sex in the Netherlands. From mid-November onwards, the hooks filled up easily, slaughterhouses said. This has 2 reasons. First of all, the demand for (sausage) cows always increases in the run-up to the holidays. In addition, supply easily became available in November, because a group of dairy farmers the end of October was told that they still had to comply with the phosphate reduction plan.
To reduce 4 million kilos of phosphate, a total of 100.000 cows had to disappear this year. With additional slaughter alone, more than 2017 cattle disappeared in 2016 compared to 96.000. Add to that the cattle that have been exported and the burden of proof is there as to the objective of the LU scheme. About 90% of the slaughtered animals are usually 'sausage cows'.
2018 another exciting year
In 2018, many dairy farmers will have to figure out how to fill the available phosphate space. Depending on the milk price, it will be determined whether purchasing additional phosphate rights is worthwhile or whether the dairy herd will be cut again.
Also the possible standstill at FrieslandCampina could make dairy farmers decide to clean up the 'bottom' of the dairy herd. Given that many companies in 2017 have already eliminated the bottom of the dairy herd in the past year, this can be a difficult decision. The supply of sausage cows may therefore be different in 2018.